Interview with Author Scott Nicholson!

Interview:

Hi, Scott!

Welcome to Rex Robot Reviews- excited to have you here today! I would like to thank you for taking the time to join us for an interview.

1. Scott, which character did you enjoy writing the most and why? 

I’d say the two young friends, Bobby and Vernon Ray, because I think I’m permanently stuck at age 13. At that age, you haven’t quite lost the magic of childhood but you’re staring at the more cynical, serious world of the adult. Plus in my young characters I can hide the fact that I haven’t really learned that much about human behavior in my middle age.

2. What inspired your novel Drummer Boy?  

There’s a local mountain legend called the Jangling Hole, same as in the book, where deserters from the war are said to hide in the remote caverns. This actually happened–soldiers from both sides would camp together way up on the hills. According to legend, you can still hear their mess kits and tools jangling or clinking deep in the caverns. That, plus having been in a Civil War re-enactment, allowed me to build a contemporary backdrop, but I was also inspired by the “otherness” that Vernon Ray feels.

3. If Drummer Boy had a soundtrack, which songs would you choose? 

Probably all the weird 1980s stuff I used to listened to, like Talking Heads, Elvis Costello and The Cure. Bluegrass is huge around here but I grew up with it, along with old country and Southern Gospel, so it’s kind of reverse cool to avoid it. But I can also hear some of that twangy Americana, the banjo and harmonica stuff, the kind of bittersweet songs soldiers might play around a battlefield campfire.

4. Would you rather see your books on the TV screen or the big screen?

I haven’t had a TV in six years, and my attention span doesn’t match the medium. So I’ll go with movies. I’ve written six screenplays but still waiting to have Hollywood back a truckload of money to my door. One of my novels, The Home, is under option and I’ve adapted a couple more. Don’t quit your day job, they tell me. But they’re stuck in day jobs. I’m a full-time dreamer.

5. How would you say that your interests influence your writing?

Is insanity a proper answer? My wife does big puppets and parades with a non-profit art center, and every event is surreal. We were just talking today about, “Why bother being half crazy? Why not go all the way?” So I just dump every experience in there, as bravely as possible. Write the book I want my kids to read someday.

6. What do you do when you aren't writing?

I’m a serious organic gardener. I’d rather be shoveling cow crap than writing. Of course, some people say I am shoveling crap when I write.

7. Where is your favorite spot to read/write?

I almost always work at my desk at home. There’s a beautiful undeveloped mountain out my big window so I have to turn my desk the other way. I sometimes write in coffee shops, but there are too many attractive young women around to get any work done. Add in a caffeine overdose and it’s no wonder poets go insane.

8. If you can take the books of only one author with you to a desert island, which author would you choose? Why? 

I’d go with Mark Twain because he wrote a lot, he was funny, and he was smart. Plus he’s dead and I don’t have to be jealous that he’s a better writer than I am.

9. So, what comes after Drummer Boy? Excited about any other releases or works in progress?  

I’m about to release a couple of graphic novels, including DIRT, in which I play the Digger, a narrator of my adapted short stories. It’s really cool to be a comic book character. I’m also releasing GRAVE CONDITIONS, with contributions from Brian Keene, Jonathan Maberry, Stephen Susco, William Harms, and more. I am soon releasing DISINTEGRATION, a dark psychological thriller in which no character can be trusted, and I’m about to finish a young adult novel that will probably be under a fake name because it’s too funny and good to have been written by me.

10. Do you have any upcoming events? If so, where can your readers find you? 

During the month of May, I’m a participant at Coyote Con, a free online writing conference. I am also doing some writing workshops at various libraries in North Carolina. The best way to catch me is my blog, http://hauntedcomputer.blogspot.com. If you’re a writer, the blog http://writegoodordie.blogspot.com supports our free writing-advice manual. If you’re a writer, you have my deepest sympathy. You’ll either go insane or fail. If you’re like me, probably both.

Thank you, Scott, for taking the time to stop here, answer some questions and make me laugh! What a wonderful interview!

It's been fun!

Readers, you have to check out Scott's brilliant books below! You won't regret it-

And be sure to leave him a comment with any thoughts ;)